Script limitation

[Tijo]

Would it be possible to have access to the fields in the content properties while a script is running. because the current operation I find counterproductive to open and close a script to have access to the content properties, if anyone has an idea of how to proceed I am interested.

here are screens to illustrate my remarks

the 1st image no script activated, my text frame is selected the content property is available




the 2nd image the script is activated, my text frame is selected, the content property is not available



    

[a.l.e]

the short answer is: you cannot interact with the scribus UI while a script is running.

the longer answer is in two parts:

extension scripts

theoretically, scribus should support what is called "extension scripts" that can create modal dialogs.
i think that in the distant past, i must have seen an example of such a script, but i would not know (or i don't want to know...) where to look for it.

on the one side, i'm not sure that extension scripts still work and, on the other side, i fear that having a document that can change while the script is running might be too complex for the current script commands.

a new way to use the scripter

extending scribus by writing c++ code is hard... and this on multiple levels.

i believe that allowing to add menu entries and dialogs through python could let much more people to contribute new features to scribus.

for various reasons (did i mention that the current scripter is based on a scripting engine that is completely abandoned and that nobody understand?) this would mean that we should first create a new scripter engine:

- with a better API that allows to write better code
- based on a framework that is well known and understood (pybind11) that we can enhance (as an example to correctly support pyside6)

i have a prototype that does work (except for the pyside part... but having now read the documentation on the "extension scripts" i think that we should be able to use the same approach and get that to work, too) but for now i don't plan to restart focusing on it... except if other people want to (actively!) join the effort.

all this having been said...

i guess that for now the short answer is the best one: just forget about it : - )

... except if a group of people want to put some real efforts to get the things to improve...